Device for removing snow and ice from railway tracks



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, p. VAN p: GENACHTE DBVTQE FOR REPOVING SNOW AND ICE FROH RAILWAY TRACKS Filed June 15, 1925 A? WITNESSES Qjld INVENTOR I ATTORNEYS t atented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT fillil l ltlhl...

nn'smn VAN DE eENAcH'rn, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

DEVICE FOR REMOVING SNOW AND ICE FROM RAILWAY TRAQKS.

Application filed June 15, 1925. Serial No. 37,297.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Diisnui VAN on Gn- NAOHTE, a citizen of Belgium, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Man hattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Device for Removing Snow and Ice from Railway Tracks, of which the following is a description.

lily invention relates to track clearers and particularly to a revoluble track clearer which will serve to clear the track rails and the vicinity of the slot of trolley tracks of snow and ice.

The general object of my invention is to provide efficient cutting means for snow or ice which will effectively clear the vicinity of the trolley slot and which moreover will serve to cut and remove ice orsnow from the tracks at the treads of the rails and at the channels thereof, a further object being to deflect the snow away from the vicinity of the cleared area.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, it being understood that the drawings are merely illustrative of one example of the invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a track clearer means embodying my invention and a portion of a car;

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section on the line 2-2, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of one of the cutters for the track rails;

Figure at is a side elevation of the slot clearer, the cutter shaft being in section;

Figure 5 is a broken view showing various sections of the rail clearer, the view given to illustrate different forms of cutter members that may advantageously be employed.

In the illustrated example, the letter A indicates a portion of the car; B, wheels; C, axles; D, trolley tracks; and E the usual slot between the track rails.

In carrying out my invention in accord ance with the illustrated example, a crossed belt runs over a pulley c on the front axle C and over a pulley 111 on a cutter axle 11 having track cutters 12 and a slot clearer 13, said slot clearer having cutter blades 14, 15 curved toward opposite sides to effectively clear the region adjacent to the slot E.

Each cutter 12 has transversely of the tread thereof oblique cutter edges 17. An

annular series of cutters is provided to run in the channels d of rails D. The members about the cutter present different cutting edges as seen best in Figure 5 and these are designated reSpLctively 18, 118, 218 and 318. The various cutters may run in any desired sequence for the effective cutting of ice from the channels d. In the illustrated example cutting edges 18 are shown extending in a straight transverse plane as well as ll-shaped cutters 118, oblique cutters 218 sloping outwardly, and oblique cutters 318 sloping inwardly.

At the inner side of the wheel I provide ther-fon curved deflector blades 19 to throw the snow away from the region of the rails and laterally inward. Similarly, deflector blades 20 are provided on the wheels at the outside to deflect the snow at that side of the wheel laterally outward.

In order to raise or lower the axle 11 the axle turns in bearings 24 on posts 28. Brace arms 22 are provided extending from the bearings 24: rearwardly and upwardly and pivoted as at 22 to the car structure. The posts 23 are adapted to move vertically in the platform a of the car A and at the upper end the posts are provided with cam heads 25 having handles 26 to rock the cams to raise or lower the cutter axle 11.

With the described arrangement cutters 12 turn in reverse directions of the car wheels so that the cutter members 16 effectively cut the ice at the treads of the rails while the channel cutters 18, 118, 218, 318 clear the channel. The cuttings are effectively deflected in opposite directions by the curved blades 19, 20. The blades 14:, 15 curving in opposite directions serve not only for cutting the ice or snow from the region of the slot D but also are effective for deflecting the cut material away from the slot.

I would state furthermore that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the exact details herein illustrated, since, manifestly, the same'can be considerably varied without departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a track clearer means, a revoluble cutter adapted to travel on a channeled railway track, cutting members on said revoluill) llector means on said cutter to throw the cuttings laterally.

2. In a track clearer means, a revolubl: cutter adapted to travel on a rail, cutting members on said cutter to clearthe rail, and

i0 deflector means on the cutter at opposite sides to throw the cuttings laterally in opposite directions.

3. In track clearer means a revoluble cutting element and means to mount the said cutting element to travel along the slot on a trolley track, said element having blades alternate ones of Whiclrcurve in opposite directions.

DESIRE VAN DE GENAOHTE. 

